Heretofore, in a semiconductor production process, etc. it is common practice to use resist compositions. An example of such compositions is a chemically amplified resist composition.
The chemically amplified resist composition typically comprises a resin that when acted on by an acid, is decomposed to thereby increase its solubility in an alkali developer, and a compound that when exposed to actinic rays or radiation, is decomposed to thereby generate an acid. With respect to this resin and compound, various developments have been effected in order to cope with, for example, the miniaturization of semiconductors (see, for example, patent references 1 and 2).
However, with respect to such a composition, there is room for further improvements. In particular, in recent years, it is required to simultaneously attain excellent roughness characteristics and excellent pattern shape at higher dimension.